With the vampire world
on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle
lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of
Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal.

Mirren Kincaid once
served the tribunal as their most creative and ruthless executioner—a time when
he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable,
Mirren abandoned the tribunal’s political machinations and disappeared—only to
resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton.
Now the tribunal wants him back on their side.

To break their rogue
agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to
restore Mirren’s bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a
man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch—meant by the
tribunal to bring out a violent killer—actually help Mirren break his bonds and
discover the love he doesn’t believe he deserves?

My Thoughts

Another page-turner. Another all-nighter my lovelies. This
series is now on my Top Ten list. Even
this early in the game (it’s only Book #2), I feel that The Penton Legacy deserves
a place among the elite of the paranormal romances.

To be included on my Top Ten list, a series will evoke strong
emotion from me, is memorable enough that I’m sure I’ll recall details for a
long time to come, I’ll want to pick it up and do a reread and I would never
hesitate to recommend it to all my friends risking my reputation as a reviewer.
The Penton Legacy absolutely meets these requirements.

If you like Midnight Breed by Lara Adrian, Black Dagger
Brotherhood by JR Ward and Sentinel Wars by Shannon K Butcher, you’ll like this
series. In my opinion, the worldbuilding, plot, writing and emotional
connection to the characters is on par with those exceptional ‘must read’
paranormal romances.

The first in the series, Redemption,
is amazing (you can check out my review ofRedemption by clicking here) and I found this one is
even better. The excitement and suspense is on the same level as the first but
I think it was the main characters in Absolution
that I connected with more.

Mirren, oh dear GAWD, that bad boy is hot! And Glory is one
remarkable heroine. There are not too many people who can stare down a 6’8”,
300 lb., muscled, goateed, tattooed, Norse-descended, Scottish-born,
Irish-raised vampire mercenary, born and bred to kill. Mankind and vampkind alike
run for the hills when they see or even hear whispers of The Slayer. But not
Glory. Oh no. With hands on hips, she
stares him down, talks his ear right off and brings him to his knees. All with love, respect and understanding that
is not easy with a tormented soul like Mirren. I love these characters. I found
their chemistry to be true and admired how they dealt with everything that was
thrown at them.

Like the last novel, there’s non-stop action so strap yourselves
in for the ride and get ready for an all-nighter.

About the story…

The story
continues with more mayhem in the small town of Penton - a place where vampires
and humans lived together in peace and harmony until recently. After a pandemic
that threatened the lives of humans, a vaccine was found and administered to
most of the population.

Crisis
averted. For the mankind that is.
Vampkind, however, is not faring so well. The vaccine is toxic to them
so they cannot drink from any human who received the treatment. There is a serious
shortage of blood now for vampires and they are suffering in a very bad way. It has reached the point of desperation where
unvaccinated humans are abducted for their blood. Some are even sold on the
vampire black market.

The
Vampire Tribunal is aware of Penton and how Aidan has a steady supply of
unvaccinated humans living with him while other vampires are starving. Hunger,
paranoia of a potential threat to their power makes Penton a target. One member
of the Tribunal has his own plans for vengeance and uses what he can to fuel
the fire of the others.

In this
second novel of the series, Glory finds herself amongst all this madness. She
is one of the abducted humans and after her escape, it’s believed she poses a
threat. Mirren brings her back to Penton for protection. And so the excitement
begins.

About the Characters…

Everyone,
and I mean everyone, vampires and humans alike is scared shitless of Mirren.
Even the almighty Vampire Tribunal. Born and bred as a gallowglass (an elite
mercenary warrior) in life, he was a fierce warrior. After turned vampire, he
worked for the Tribunal as a mercenary doing their dirty work. He left them and eventually joined with Aidan
desiring a peaceful life.

Even
though he now lives in this very small town where everyone knows your business,
no one knows his real story (not even Aidan). They only know rumors of his
past. He’s grouchy, prickly and avoids getting close to anyone.

This quote
from the last book cracked me up: Aidan’s description of Mirren upon meeting
Krys.

“Mirren
gave her a curt nod and assumed his normal expression, something between a
sphinx and a turnip. Aidan stifled a laugh; Mirren considered that his friendly
look.”

Also
from the last book: Mirren having to sit and talk to a delegate from the
Vampire Tribunal.

“The
big guy sat through the twenty-minute ordeal wearing his stone-gargoyle face,
arms crossed over his chest, answering Renz’s questions with a full repertoire
of grunts and vague, monosyllabic replies. Thank God Renz had a good sense of
humor. “You don’t like to talk about your past, do you, Mr. Kincaid?” he
finally asked. Mirren fixed him with a look that would freeze icebergs. “You
think?” It had been his longest sentence of the night.”

There’s
that warrior side of him but there’s also a soft side that no one but Glory has
ever managed to bring out. Glory is a fabulous heroine. She’s smart and more stubborn
than Mirren could ever think of being. This is a quote from when she suspected
Mirren was going to leave:

“She
did love him, damn it. All of him. She just had to convince him of it. And if
he tried to walk out on her, she might have to find her own inner gallowglass.”
Love that line and I think it gives you great insight into her character!

There’s
a real kinship between the main characters and the banter between Aidan, Mirren
and Will is hilarious. Afraid as they were of Mirren, it didn’t stop them from
poking a stick at the big ole grouch trying to get a rise out of him.

Bottom Line

After
only two novels, I have listed this series in my Top Ten favorite PNR series of
all time. The story is memorable, compelling and has a unique spin in a genre
saturated with vampires. I quickly became
invested in the characters and I enjoyed it so much that I have no hesitation
in recommending it to you my friends! It’s
one that I will most assuredly do a reread and know I’ll enjoy it again just as
much.

5 comments:

Thanks Miki! Mirren is awesome! His grouchiness and how Glory dealt with him cracked me up. lol! i think Will's story will be good too. I have a feeling there's a lot inside that boy that'll make us love him too.

LOL! I'm glad I can help you out in that department B. You know I'm a total fang girl. I understand your wariness though. There's a lot of them out there. Some good some bad. I particularly like the fangers in this series. The most talented of authors are coming up with new ways to explore this genre and entertain us. Hopefully some day you'll give them a chance again. So are you reading mostly contemporary and moving away from the paranormal?

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I started "Smitten with Bad Boy Heroes" with hope of bringing those of us who love the bad boys we meet in novels together to express our opinions. Since my favourite genres are Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy, most of what's here will be reviews of novels in that genre. However, you may see some Contemporary Romance as well. I strive only to share with other readers the amazing stories I've read from wonderful and talented authors. My reviews are based on my opinion alone and everything on this blog is written entirely for my love and affection of books. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do and I hope you enjoy my blog!